The Kingdom

When it was all said and done, The Kingdom was a damn good action movie that had delusions of grandeur. There was a real attempt being made to tell a deep story about the relationship of the United States and Saudi Arabia, but it never really delivered at the level that was intended. In fact it distracted me from the real strong final act of the movie. The Kingdom started fast then slowed down so that the FBI agents could actually do their job then blew everything up for the final 30 minutes.

The best part of The Kingdom and the reason I will watch and rewatch this movie for years to come is the kidnapping then rescue of Jason Bateman’s character. This was just one of those adrenaline on overdrive scenes that didn’t slowdown until all the bad guys were dead. There was a sweet car pileup to start with, then shifted to a decent car chase, an insane shootout outside and inside the apartment complex, some Jennifer Garner hand-to-hand, then big climatic showdown. While all this was going on you are constantly shown Bateman scratching and clawing to keep himself alive and all of his teammates flipping out over the situation. This was just a fantastic sequence created by Peter Berg.

Although this is not his greatest performance, The Kingdom is just another movie for Jamie Foxx to shine in. His meteoric rise is astounding. Foxx is now at the level where greatness is expected every time I see him onscreen. Dude, this Jamie Foxx and I kind of want to list all his work in the 90s and then say this man is one of the best actors working today. Jamie ended up doing some of his best work side-by-side with Ashraf Barhom who played the Saudi Colonel working with the FBI agents. The 2 of them were able to craft a real friendship in their scenes together, starting as adversaries then building to partners trying to avenge the bombing. Although Foxx and Barhom did the best work, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman all had their moments. Bateman may have seemed like a weird fit in this movie, but that didn’t stop him from constantly dropping one-liners whenever he was onscreen. He paid for his jokes by having the shit-kicked out of him during the kidnapping sequence. And Cooper is one of the steadiest actors working today. There is no such thing as too many movies with Chris Cooper. All that talent and Jeremy Piven shows up to act exactly like Piven does in all of his roles. It is going to get old soon but it worked here.

Just to explain where The Kingdom’s reach exceeded its grasp. It seemed like they were trying to tell this deep story about how when it comes down to it, we are no better than the people we call terrorists. A big flashy action movie didn’t seem to be the place for a final scene that was supposed to make you rethink your view of the world. I just had a 30-minute adrenaline rush; don’t try for deep thoughts after that.

I know that The Kingdom was originally meant to be released in the Spring and I get the feeling that they moved it to the Fall so it could get award buzz. That really makes no sense to me. I don't think it affected box office because this was going to make R-rated action movie money no matter when it dropped. In the end, The Kingdom was a good action movie that had a fantastic ending sequence.

8 out of 10